What lessons does the practice of Parkour teach about community, personal growth, and resilience?

Adam McClellan discusses his work with Parkour Generations Americas, the parkour community in America, and his local community. He goes into his transition from martial arts to parkour, before delving into goal setting and how he motivates himself. Adam finishes by sharing people he draws inspiration from and why coaching parkour is so important to him.

“A rising tide lifts all boats, and through events like Art of Retreat, we’re realizing we can all benefit by working together.” ~ Adam McClellan (0:53)

The conversation explores the broad implications of Parkour on personal growth, community development, and coaching philosophies. Adam discusses Parkour Generations’ work in creating partnerships with various organizations, emphasizing trust-building and long-term collaboration. He highlights the growing unity within the American Parkour community, describing a shift toward collaboration and shared growth over individual competition.

On a personal level, McClellan shares his journey from martial arts to Parkour, driven by the transparency and humility inherent in Parkour’s practice. He reflects on the physical and mental challenges of advanced training courses and the value of failure in pushing boundaries. The conversation also delves into his coaching philosophy, advocating for spreading Parkour’s core values effectively and inclusively.

Takeaways

Strength, touch, and spirit — Core elements that define Parkour as a practice, blending physical, mental, and community aspects.

Community collaboration — The rising trend of cooperation within the American Parkour community, fostering mutual growth and shared opportunities.

Transparency in movement — The unique quality of Parkour, where skill is immediately visible and ego has no place.

The role of failure — Viewing failure as a necessary and valuable part of growth in training and life.

Parkour coaching impact — Emphasis on making Parkour accessible and inspiring to others through intentional coaching methods.

Transition from martial arts — A shift from a field driven by appearances to one defined by authentic skill and humility.

Building community spaces — The dream of creating a hub for Parkour practitioners to train, connect, and grow together.

Adapting goals — A preference for broad, flexible objectives over rigid benchmarks to encourage creativity and exploration.

Resources

Parkour Generations — The global organization involved in Parkour coaching, partnerships, and community development.

Art of Retreat — A gathering of Parkour coaches and community leaders in the U.S.

American Council on Exercise (ACE) — Partner organization that uses Parkour coaching standards.

ADEPT Level 2 Course — A rigorous certification program for advanced Parkour coaches.

Lehigh Valley Martial Arts — The martial arts school where Adam McClellan began his training journey.

(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)

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— Hello👋 I’m Craig Constantine.

In the Movers Mindset podcast, I talk with movement enthusiasts to learn who they are, what they do, and why they do it. I’m interested in the nature and philosophy of movement and in exploring themes like independence, self-direction, and human excellence. My interests color each conversation and provide some structure to Movers Mindset. But since I like to take the scenic route, every conversation ends up going somewhere unique.

The purpose of Movers Mindset is to create and share great conversations with movement enthusiasts. Each conversation feeds my insatiable curiosity, but I share them to turn on a light for someone else, to inspire them, or to give them their next question.

I appreciate your time and attention, and I don’t take it for granted.

— Thank you!

My personal mission is creating better conversations to spread understanding and compassion. And Movers Mindset is one of the things I do in service of my mission. Drop by https://craigconstantine.com/ for my weekly email, my other podcasts, writing and more.

The Movers Mindset project grew from conversations I started having as part of my personal journey rediscovering movement. The project started late in 2015, and it was initially simply a web site that shared others’ writing. The project grew, and in 2017 I started the podcast. I’ve worked extremely hard, but none of this would have been possible without so much help from so many people.

Thanks for listening!

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